Naba Das murder case: Odisha HC records statement of accused Gopal Das
Feb 14, 2023
Odisha [India], February 14 : The Odisha High Court on Tuesday recorded the statement of Gopal Das, accused in the murder of former state Health Minister Naba Das on January 29.
The accused Gopal Das was produced before the court, where his statement was recorded under Section 164 of CrPC.
"The accused was brought from Jharsuguda jail. After that, the jail authority appealed to the court to shift him to another due to security. The court has granted the permission," Remand Advocate Harishankar Agrawal told ANI.
Earlier, the Odisha High Court on Thursday quashed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a CBI probe into the murder case of state minister Naba Das on January 29.
Noting that it will be "too early" to hand over the case to the agency, the court refused to interfere in the ongoing investigation at this stage.
The PIL was filed by Bharatiya Vikash Parishad seeking a CBI investigation into the broad-daylight murder of State Health Minister Naba Das by police personnel in Jharsuguda last month.
"The Advocate General filed a reply on behalf of the government, stating that it has been only 11 days since the incident and the investigation by the Crime Branch is undergoing," informed Gopal Prashad Jena, Advocate Bhartiya Vikash Parishad.
While speaking about the matter, Surendra Panigrahi, President of Bharatiya Vikas Parishad said, "Naba das was a powerful, popular, and rich politician. He was trying to be the next CM of Odisha. So some politicians interested in this post planned to kill him. But Orissa High Court rules out handing Naba Das murder probe to CBI, with remarks, it is 'too early'.
Notably, Justice JP Das, a retired Judge of the Orissa High Court is monitoring the Crime Branch investigation in the case.
Meanwhile, the accused police personnel Gopal Krushna Das is under the custody of the Crime Branch and his first round of Polygraph tests was held in Gujarat's Gandhi Nagar on February 10.
Naba Das was shot at in Brajarajnagar in the Jharsuguda district on January 29 and succumbed to his bullet injuries in Bhubaneswar hospital.
Das had been the Health and Family Welfare Minister of Odisha since 2019. He was a three-time MLA from the Jharsuguda constituency and was said to be an influential leader in the area.
